1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to resource virtualization. In one example, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for efficiently implementing virtualization, allocation, redundancy, and management of resources used to connect servers to packet based networks such as Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional servers connect to packet networks such as IP networks using port adapters such as network interface cards (NICs). Each NIC is connected to an IP network port. If many servers are connected to an IP network, a large number of NICs and IP network ports are required. A large number of NICs and IP network ports are required even though many NICs and ports remain underutilized, particularly when high availability is configured.
In many implementations, multiple NICs are included in each server to provide for redundancy and load sharing. In some instances, one NIC is configured as the active NIC while another NIC is configured as a redundant NIC. When an active NIC fails, the server devotes processing resources in order to effectively switchover to using the redundant NIC. However, having multiple NICs in each server can lead to even less efficient resource utilization and drain processing resources during failover.
Techniques and mechanisms for sharing resources such as NICs and providing high availability connections to IP networks are limited. In many instances, conventional mechanisms still lead to underutilization and resource inflexibility. Network administration issues also remain complicated with a need for a large number of NICs and network ports. Consequently, it is desirable to provide methods and apparatus for efficiently providing high availability and I/O aggregation to servers connected to packet based networks.